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Living the Lifestyle Everyday

Answering Dear John letters in Denver

Recall is not always 20-20. We struggle to get our reading in, and yet we read more than ever. We complain about the content on the radio and yet we can’t seem to turn it off. We wonder about the spam, the hackers and the pornographers who prey on our kids and on our laptops and cell phones and the messages are no doubt unproductive and overly seductive, but we are looking for love in all the wrong places. We all have received our share of Dear John Letters, experienced our own personal “Valentines Day Massacre.” But we can find comfort that in the midst of the junk mail and the privacy statements there is something more substantial in the “Dear John” letter we will open starting today.

Recall to fundamentals
It was in the pile of bills and coupons, periodicals and magazines. The letter was there from the start and yet somehow we missed it. It brought back memories that we had seen before, that we had touched, we had experienced it with every one of our senses- it was the very essence of the word, and it was the very water to our thirst. This was the kind of letter that sustains and repairs the broken heart. It was from John but it was far different than the usual letter where the bottom line is rejection. In fact this was the opposite of a “Dear John” letter it was a “From John” letter and what we have to do is figure how to answer it. It is a proposal, it is a “yes or no,” it is an invitation and it asks that we give it our immediate attention. Will our answer be an acceptance or will it be rejection? It is to every Denverite and it can change your life no matter how you answer this letter.

Relational and not religious
The letter opener quickly takes the letter and right away the regard for your dignity, your intelligence and respect jump off the page. It is a declaration of love for men, women, straight, gay, or undecided. It is not political, it is not demanding but there is an offer that you could accept r reject. No matter if you live in Cherry Hills Village, Congress Park or Five Points or Montebello, this love is pursuing you no matter what your social standing or your economic system is. Who is this message from? What does he want from you and what can you give him? Well the motive is that “he wants your joy to be complete.”

Complete Joy
Cindy Amos hasn’t felt joy since her husband left- she’d like to take a shot. Herb Ziegler lives in a condo near Chessman Park- he lost his joy when he was diagnosed with AIDS, a disease that took hos longtime companion a few years back. Tere are a lot of stories in the Denver area that are void of joy and smell of tragedy. Mrs. Creighton was almost 100 but dies sadly without family or friends at a Lakewood Nursing Home. In the last chapter of her life she did not experience joy and so her very life seemed incomplete. The letter gives us all a second chance.

Dark and Light
East Colfax and Broadway have seen both a dark side and a bright side. It is a mixed bag for the commuter who lands everyday on the 15 or 0 RTD line. There is a sidewalk preacher who has been a driving force in “turning a deaf ear” to evangelism. But if you listen really listen to his words and not the chattering scratchiness of his shrill voice, the message is love. “God is light,” he screams, If we claim to be sharing in his life while we walk in the dark, our words and our lives are a lie…” He reads more from the letter. That’s why we need to be sure that we read the letter ourselves- we are passers by listening to the message of the light while we walk in a dark world and the danger is that we either turn it off, or we get it out of context. “But of we walk in the light, then we share together a common life, and we are being cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.”

Bottom Line
The love letter you have in your pile of unread mail is the kind of letter you only dream of. But it is real! How would you answer this letter? You are offered complete joy, protection, to walk with this love in the light and not in the darkness. Men and women are being called by this letter because Jesus Christ is loving you to life. So I challenge you to read this love letter and that you answer it. The letter can be found in the New Testament of the Bible. From now until Valentines Day the Denver Evangelical Examiner is challenging you to answer the letter. We will be talking about issues and answers that this letter is bringing to you. Would you do this? In the comment page I want to know where you are in completing your joy in life? I want you to share what it means and what it might cost you to “walk in the light.” Read 1 John 1-7. How would you answer this letter and what is the unique call for Denver?